Unusual But Fine Tastes At Tehran

May 25, 1990|By Barbara Sullivan.

Our table was so overloaded with food that we put the dishes of borani, kashke bademjan and rice on the empty table next to us. This confused the attentive, smiling busboy, who thought we wanted those dishes taken away.

``No, no, we just don`t have enough room,`` we kept saying. ``No English,``

he kept responding, trying to remove our overflow food.

We were at Tehran, a Persian (the word `Iranian` isn`t used on the menu)

restaurant in the Rogers Park area. The interior of this storefront spot is pretty: carpeted floor, subdued lighting, mirrors and pictures on the walls and blinds covering the front window. More importantly, the food that was overloading our table was, for the most part, outstanding.

Dinners range from $4.75 to $7.75, and start with soup, which changes daily. Ours was a thick chicken soup, delicately flavored with mint and lemon. Then comes a plate of sliced radishes, onion, Persian cheese and flat leaf parsley, which you tuck inside warm pita bread.

We also ordered a couple of appetizers before moving to the hefty dinners. Kashke bademjan ($2.45), a musty tasting, garlic-laced mashed eggplant dish, and borani ($2.10), a mixture of spinach, onion and yogurt, were wonderful to slather on the pita bread and good also for mixing with the rice that arrived later.

Persian food depends heavily on good marinades, and each of the entrees we ordered had a fine flavor. Two whole quail, charbroiled and halved, ($6.95) were tender and tasty. Shish leek, a skewer of six large, flavorful pieces of lamb interspersed with onions, tomatoes and green peppers ($7.75) and joojeh kebab, ($5.50) a skewer of eight pieces of chicken and vegetables, each had distinctive, good flavors. Both green rice and white rice are served with dinner.

You have a choice of jello or rice pudding with dinner, but don`t pass up the unusual Persian ice cream ($1.50). This is vanilla ice cream, mixed with pistachios and rose water.

``I feel like I`m tasting something that I`m used to smelling,`` was our comment to the waiter when he asked how we liked it.